At Easter, recalling how religion came early to the Lower Sandusky

As we celebrate Easter this weekend, it’s interesting to note that the beginnings of formal religion in this area were as primitive as the countryside.

According to Basil Meek’s history of Sandusky County, three pioneer clergy were among the settlers of the area.

Those three missionaries were the Revs. Joseph Badger, James Hughes and James Montgomery.

First missionary to region came in 1800

According to Case Western Reserve University’s Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, Badger was the first missionary sent to the Western Reserve by the Connecticut Missionary Society, arriving in the area in late 1800, to serve both Congregationalists and Presbyterians. He is believed to have preached the first sermon in Cleveland and he spent more than three decades in the area as a missionary, organizing churches and schools.

According to Meek, “The labors of this missionary consisted not only preaching and teaching, but also, helping the Indians in their work raising crops. He speaks in his diary of making his own boat and making a plow for Mrs. Whittaker (Mrs. James Whittaker whose house he resided at for a time), hoeing in the garden, digging for water, writing letters and administering to the sick.”

He served in the Revolutionary War and again in the War of 1812 and it is believed that his influence with the Wyandots helped to keep them neutral during that conflict.

Hughes was a native of Pennsylvania who was licensed to preach in 1788 by the Presbytery. His work apparently was primarily in southern Ohio, but he did missionary work with the Native Americans along the Sandusky River.

Two brothers, two sons and a nephew of Hughes were all among the pioneer clergy. I don’t know if any served in this area.

Montgomery came to Lower Sandusky

Montgomery, who was a preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church and Indian agent at Fort Seneca, preached the first sermon by a Methodist preacher in Lower Sandusky.

In 1820, he organized himself, his wife and daughter into a “class” that was the start of a church. He preached in the area for about three decades before dying at Fort Seneca in 1830, having organized the first class of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Lower Sandusky.

The Rev. Jacob Bowlus, who came to the area from Maryland in 1822, organized United Brethren Church classes in the area and is said to have been the first resident preacher authorized by law to solemnize marriages.

While Meek and other sources that I have found link Bowlus to the United Brethren Church, Meek also says that Bowlus organized the first Methodist Episcopal Society in Sandusky County and was connected with that church for 70 years.

States for many years and Methodism at Bowlus’ time was “countercultural” in that it was anti-elitist and anti-slavery.

John B. Beaugrand, a prosperous merchant from Detroit, located in Lower Sandusky in 1823 with his wife and seven children at the encouragement of the Momenay brothers. The Beaugrands invited their pastor in Detroit to their home and in March of 1823 the Rev. Gabriel Richard said the first Mass ever celebrated at Lower Sandusky.

It became the foundation of St. Ann Church, carrying on the same name as Richard’s church in Detroit.

Roy Wilhelm started a 40-year career at The News-Messenger in 1965 as a reporter. Now retired, he writes a column for both The News-Messenger and News Herald.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Missionaries came to Lower Sandusky OH region in 1800